W h a t c a n d e s i g n d o t o s t a r t t o l e g i t i m i z e r a m l e t b o u l a q i n t h e e y e s o f s u r r o u n d i n g c a i r o w i t h o u t d e n y i n g t h o s e e x i s t i n g i n t e r n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s ?

“Taking me out of here is l ike taking a f ish out

of h is pond. I am as loyal to th is land as I am

to my country, Egypt.” These words - spoken by

Mohamed, a Ramlet Boulaq resident - te l l the

t rue story of a s lum often viewed as ‘something

within the shadow.’ The people here value their

community above al l e lse. They have fought and

wi l l cont inue to f ight for the land that they own and

cal l home. I t was crucial to honor these values -

these people - when at tempt ing to rel ieve some of

those day to day struggles made worse by those

physical l iv ing condi t ions.

R A M L E T B O U L A Q

The Ni le City Towers si t d irect ly across the street that bounds Ramlet Boulaq on i ts west s ide. The towers have come with a great deal of controversy for the slum dwel lers, of ten referr ing to i t as “ the shadow they are l iv ing under,” as the owner of the towers shares a compl icated relat ionship with the slum dwel lers. Whi le cont inual ly t ry ing to acquire the slum’ s land for his own f inancial gain, the tower owner has also acknowledged those f inancial uncertaint ies at play within the slum as he employed many of Ramlet Boulaq’s residents to act as securi ty for the towers dur ing the 2011 revolut ion in Cairo.

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